May 16, 2025
New services will be offered to kids with serious emotional, behavioral conditions after 2023 lawsuit
A federal court granted final approval Friday to a settlement agreement in a lawsuit against the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services that will expand and improve mental health services for children.
The settlement is in a 2023 lawsuit claiming the state had denied Medicaid-eligible children timely access to intensive community services and had failed to provide “intensive home and community-based services” for decades.
The lawsuit was filed by three Medicaid-eligible Iowa children under the age of 21, who were represented by advocacy groups Disability Rights Iowa, the National Health Law Program and Children’s Rights.